Five Nights at Spencer's
by Emachinescat
Summary: When Shawn goes undercover as an up-and-coming YouTuber, he discovers that being a "Let's Player" isn't all it's cracked up to be, not when you're being stalked by murderous animatronics, horrific specters, and a real, live, honest-to-God... dragon...? Forget what your parents told you. It's NOT just a game. Rated for violence, whump, and language. Post-finale.
1. Hating on the Player and the Game

_Disclaimer: I don't own_ Psych, nor do I own the video games mentioned in this chapter: _Mortal Kombat, Mario, Madden,_ or _Space Invaders._ Well, technically, I own the entire series of _Psych_ on DVD, and I have _New Super Mario Bros_ for the Wii and my dad had some _Madden_ games for the Nintendo 64... but I don't own the rights. :)

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Five Nights at Spencer's by Emachinescat

A Psych Fan-Fiction

SUMMARY: When a popular online gamer is attacked and another goes missing in events closely emulating iconic scenes from popular horror video games, Shawn gets to live the dream when he's put on the case, going undercover as an up and coming YouTuber. But being a "Let's Player" isn't all it's cracked up to be, not when you're being stalked by murderous animatronics, horrific specters, and a real, live, honest-to-God... dragon? Can Shawn unearth the force behind these dark happenings, get his subscriber count to one million, and survive with all his limbs and sanity intact, before the killer strikes again? Forget what your parents told you. It's NOT just a game.

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 **A/N:** **This story is a homage to not only some of the most popular forms of entertainment today, but also to the entertainers and the genre itself. Since it takes place in 2015, it's been about a year since Shawn and Gus relocated to San Fran - but Lassie's still sticking his nose into the story, anyway. For the sake of this story, we're going to pretend that the whole Monk reference didn't happen at the end of season 8, and that Shawn and Gus are the only consultants consistently hired by the SFPD. And Henry's going to butt his way into the story, too, even from retirement in Santa Barbara. So business as usual. :)**

 **((Needless to say, since this is one of my stories, there will most certainly be whump. Right now, rating is T, but if it gets too graphic, I'll change it to M.)** )

 **See the end of chapter note for more information about the background and inspiration for this story! :)**

 **Starting out slow here with the obligatory flashback prologue... this absolutely sets the stage for the rest of the story. Enjoy, and please review!**

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 **Five Nights at Spencer's**

 **Prologue: Hating on the Player _and_ the Game**

 _1992_

"Shawn, I said _no_."

Fifteen-year-old Shawn Spencer scowled indignantly at his father. "Why the hell not?" he spat back, watching with a certain degree of satisfaction and foreboding as his dad's hackles rose.

"Watch your mouth, kid," Henry snapped, and Shawn noticed with no small bit of pride that he'd managed to make both the vein on his father's left temple and the one on his neck bulge in frustration. "And you know damn well why."

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Come _on_ , Dad!" he practically whined. "It's just a game. It's not like I'm going to lose it and go on a killing spree."

"See, Shawn, that's exactly your problem," Henry ground out, snatching the case out of Shawn's hands. "You think of it as just a game – but when does the line between 'game' and 'reality' begin to blur? When does violence suddenly become the answer to everyday problems? I swear, if parents keep letting their kids indulge in this crap, America's going to have an epidemic on its hands."

Realizing that whining and wheedling wasn't getting him anywhere, Shawn decided to take the logical route. "Really, Dad? Don't you think you're taking this a bit too far? I play _Mortal Kombat_ and suddenly I'm a serial killer? _Everybody's_ playing it."

"I've spent the better part of my life fighting against crap like this," Henry rebutted, waving the game in front of his son's face. "I'm not going to let it into my house." He spun on his heel and stalked toward Shawn's bedroom door.

Incensed at the unfairness of it all, Shawn forgot about logic and nestled back into familiar territory. "What are you going to do with my game?" he demanded, arms crossed petulantly. "I bought it myself!"

Henry snorted. "Yeah, with Gus's money. Just be glad I found out about it before Mrs. Guster did – you're already on very thin ice with her at the moment." He glanced down at the box art, considering. "A friend of mine is having a yard sale next month. The game's in almost new condition; he should get a few bucks out of it, anyway." Glancing back at his teenage son's horrified face, Henry threw back over his shoulder, "By the way, you're grounded," before leaving Shawn to stew.

At the little nudge of uncertainty at his harshness, Henry strengthened his resolve. Like hell was he going to let his kid play a game that glorified gratuitous violence.

Shawn would just have to stick with _Mario, Madden,_ and _Space Invaders_.

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 **A/N: This story is a product of its time. A trend in recent years has been the rise of "Let's Players" on sites such as YouTube and Twitch - basically, gamers who make their name by playing video games and commenting on them, giving tutorials, showing people without access to the games the gameplay, or just acting like idiots while playing a game. Some notable figures today are PewDiePie, Markiplier (love him!), Jacksepticeye (love him too!), and groups like Rooster Teeth or Achievement Hunters. Now, none of these real life people will be in this story, though they may be referenced. There will be some original characters based off of them - or rather, off of pretty much any prolific Let's Player out there.**

 **One of the most entertaining types of games to watch them play are horror games, and one of the most iconic horror games today was released in 2014, "Five Nights at Freddy's." If you don't know anything about the game, don't worry - it will be explained in the story. There may be references to other popular games, like PT, Skyrim, Silent Hill, Bioshock, etc... but nothing that non-gamers will scratch their heads over.**

 **Please let me know what you think! I already have the next four chapters written, so I should be updating this fairly often! :)**

 **~Emachinescat ^. .^**


	2. The Game's a Foot - a Stinky, Sweaty Foo

_Disclaimer: I don't own_ Psych.

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Five Nights at Spencer's by Emachinescat

A Psych Fan-Fiction

SUMMARY: When a popular online gamer is attacked and another goes missing in events closely emulating iconic scenes from popular horror video games, Shawn gets to live the dream when he's put on the case, going undercover as an up and coming YouTuber. But being a "Let's Player" isn't all it's cracked up to be, not when you're being stalked by murderous animatronics, horrific specters, and a real, live, honest-to-God... dragon? Can Shawn unearth the force behind these dark happenings, get his subscriber count to one million, and survive with all his limbs and sanity intact, before the killer strikes again? Forget what your parents told you. It's NOT just a game.

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 **A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed, or just read the first chapter! :)**

 **Since that first chapter was so short, I decided to go ahead and post the next (still short, but they get progressively longer after this) today. After this post, I probably won't be posting more than once a week, but I wanted to give you guys a little more before settling into a routine. :) There is a blatant _Sherlock_ reference in this chapter, plus a more discreet _Harry Potter_ reference and a line stolen from _Moana_. Virtual pineapple upside down cake to whoever catches them (I made it in my virtual easy-bake oven). :D **

**This is just the set-up, introduction to the setting for the rest of the story, so it's short and sweet. Next chapter's longer. :)**

 **Please review, and let me know what you think!**

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 **Five Nights at Spencer's**

 **Chapter One: The Game's a Foot ... A Stinky, Sweaty Foot**

 _2015_

Shawn Spencer strode through the front doors of the San Francisco Police Department like he owned the place – which he pretty much did, he thought smugly, as he caught the eye of the head detective, his drop-dead gorgeous fiancée, from where she was in deep discussion with a couple of rookies on the far side of the bullpen. A quick smile, first at him, then at Gus, who trailed behind him, and she returned to her conversation.

Passing a few officers – Hayes, Davenport, Jones – whom they'd come to know fairly well over the last year, Shawn nodded but didn't stop to chat. Chief Vick had called him in this morning, and her voice had been tight and her tone no-nonsense, which could only mean one thing – a big case was headed his way.

It had taken a while, but Shawn and Gus had finally settled down in San Francisco. Shawn had moved in with Juliet, and Gus was renting an apartment down the street, working part-time at a local, remote pharmaceutical company, and, of course, working with his best friend at the new Psych office. It was smaller than the one in Santa Barbara, but real estate was a lot more expensive in San Fran; Gus had imperiously spouted off at least four times since they'd relocated that San Francisco was the most densely populated city in California, and the second densest in the U.S. Still, it was cozy, and it was Psych, and it was his – and with every day, with every case, every moment with Jules, and every food stand raid with Gus, San Francisco was becoming more and more like home.

"So tell me," Gus ordered as he and Shawn picked their way across the lobby, which was, most of the time, substantially more crowded than the SBPD had been on even its busiest days. "What did Chief Vick say when she called this morning?"

Huffing, Shawn rolled his eyes, throwing back over his shoulder, "Gus, don't be a lime green bowler hat," he chided. "I told you everything."

"You told me nothing," Gus countered sourly.

"Exactly."

"Shawn, that makes no sense."

"Gus, I'm serious here. The chief just told me there's a case that's come up that's sensitive to the public, and she's wanting every person she has available on it."

Gus snorted. "That's more than you told me this morning."

"That is categorically and gynocologically untrue."

"First off, ew. Secondly, all you said when you texted me this morning was, 'Station in ten. Come if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same.'"

Shawn grinned devilishly. "How cool does that sound?"

"It was cool on _Sherlock._ It's just sad when you're plagiarizing it."

"Man, I–"

The door to the chief's office opened, and an irritated chief peered out. "Spencer! Guster! Get the hell in here, stop bickering like children, and close the damn door behind you!" _Slam._

Shawn and Gus blinked at one another, confused. "Did we just go back in time?" Shawn asked, staring at the spot where Chief Carlton Lassiter of the SBPD had just moments before been.

Gus thought for a moment. "I don't know. It's weird; what would Lassie be doing here?" He blanched. "Oh my gosh. You don't think he's taking over here, too?"

Shawn shuddered. "Okay, here's what we do—"

The door slammed open again. Lassiter's face popped into sight again, red with rage. "NOW!"

Only sparing a quick glance at one another, Shawn and Gus steeled themselves for whatever strange twist of fate awaited them and followed Lassiter into the office. The door thudded shut behind them.

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 **A/N: I know it was short, but I'm building up to the plot. This is just setting the stage, and like I said last chapter, I'm trying my hand at more compact chapters. I do well with it at first, but they keep getting longer after this. :)**

 **Enjoy, and please review!**

 **~Emachinescat ^. .^**


	3. Shawn Gets His Head in the Game

_Disclaimer: I don't own_ Psych.

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 **A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed, or just read! Well, this is a much longer chapter than I was going for - I wanted to be under 1K words - but it also ended up being more fluff and banter than actual plot. Don't blame me, though: Blame Shawn. Every time I'd try to advance the plot, he'd open his big mouth and make an inappropriate joke. Seriously, every time Chief Vick tells him off in this chapter, it's really just me trying to get him to behave. What was I thinking? He barely listens to Vick; why'd I think he'd listen to me of all people? But I finally got around to a little backstory and plot. And more will be coming soon.  
**

 **The full reason for the investigation and why Lassie's working with them on this one will be hashed out in the next chapter, and the investigations will begin!**

 **As usual, I don't own Psych. I also don't own Shadow of Mordor or Skyrim (well, I have a copy of the games, but not the rights) or Lord of the Rings in general. There's also another Harry Potter reference in this one (a bit more obvious this time, but at least two people got the last one) and a quote stolen from Moana. See if you can catch it. :)**

 **Enjoy this continuation of the** **setup. I promise, more mystery and actual investigation will be coming soon! Please let me know what you think. For more info on the games mentioned in this chapter, see the end notes.**

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 **Five Nights at Spencer's**

 **Chapter Two: Shawn Gets His Head in the Game**

"Lassie, what are you doing in San Fran, man? It's like halfway across the world!"

Lassiter shot Shawn a withering glare. Chief Vick, leaning against the edge of her desk, her arms crossed, followed suit. Gus jammed an elbow into his best friend's ribs.

"You know, Spencer," Lassiter said tritely, "I can almost understand why you had to act like an idiotic ass back at the SBPD. But here, you actually have a chance to make something out of your pathetic charade."

There was an almost tense beat; at this point, it was unsaid, common knowledge that Shawn wasn't actually psychic, but the subject was hardly ever broached, because if it were said aloud, action might have to be taken. Then, Shawn beamed. "Lassie, that is literally the nicest thing you've ever said to me!"

Gus snorted. "That's sad."

"It's a process," Shawn informed Gus sagely. "He's learning to use his words to heal, not hurt."

"Karen, do we _have_ to include them in this?" To Shawn and Gus's amusement, the SBPD chief was almost whining.

"Carlton." Even though he was on the same level as Vick now, all it took was one stern recitation of his name to quell Lassiter's ire to a more respectable level. He slumped a little, then sighed, resigned to his fate, and straightened back up, the brave look of a self-effacing martyr on his face. "Right," he sighed. "All hands on deck."

Shawn briefly considered making a joke about whether they were going to be going out to sea on a ship – some inane comment about a poop deck – but the grim expressions on the two chiefs' faces were enough to keep him on track. "Something big's going down, huh? What is it? Diamond smugglers? Serial killers? Diamond killers? Cereal smugglers? Are they packing Rice Crispies into hokey Bing Dynasty" ("Ming Dynasty!" corrected Gus crossly.) "vases and shipping it overseas?" Well, _somewhat_ on track, at least.

Holding up a hand, Chief Vick admonished in a voice indicating her nearly bottomless patience was running low, "Mr. Spencer. Something big has indeed 'gone down,' but I want to wait until my head detective is here to go over the situation."

Shawn instantly brightened. "Jules is coming? Sweet!"

Lassiter scoffed. "Don't you _live_ with O'Hara, Spencer? It's not like you haven't seen her today."

Gus muttered something under his breath that sounded astonishingly like an accusation of living in sin – Lord knew he was still a naïve little stickler about "shacking up." Shawn opened his mouth to retort indignantly – whether to Lassiter or Gus, the small gathering of detectives would never know, because Juliet O'Hara chose that moment to walk through the door.

"Jules!" With a wicked grin at the other two men in the office, Shawn swept Juliet into his arms and planted a big, sloppy, wet one on her cheek.

"Shawn!" Juliet protested, face bright red.

" _Mr. Spencer,_ " Chief Vick warned, though a muscle in her cheek twitched. "What have we said about public displays of affection in the workplace?"

Shawn accepted the reprimand with grace, because Lassiter looked like he was about to blow a gasket, and his job as an antagonist was done. He felt slightly guilty about using Jules to bait Lassie, but he'd make it up to her later. It had just been an opportunity he couldn't pass up.

Sighing, the chief switched gears, turning the small assembly's attention to the laptop set up at the edge of her desk. "Okay, people, it's time to get serious."

Shawn couldn't help it. "I'm Sirius," he assured her. Thumbing at Gus, he added, "He's Black."

Gus flicked his nose. "You know that's right."

"Will you two idiots _shut up_?" Lassiter growled.

Raising her voice to be heard over the bickering, and trading an exasperated parade of looks with her fellow female, Vick plowed on with the briefing: "This is a case that has to be handled swiftly and delicately, as it is in the public eye and involves some victims that are of considerable repute in not only our area, but also across the country."

She briefly met the eyes of each person in the room, and the no-nonsense fire burning in them was enough to put a stop to any more acting out from the resident "psychic" and his wingman before it could begin again. Hitting a key on the laptop to start the slideshow, she continued, " _This—_ " she pointed to the picture on the screen, a young guy in his late teens or early twenties, "—is Carter Isaacs, known affectionately by his fans as 'Magmacarter.' He is an up and coming star on YouTube."

"Wait a second," Gus said, his eyes lighting up. "I recognize him! He was one of the first Let's Players to play _Shadow of Mordor_ last year." He scowled. "He's a moron. Can you believe that he claims to be a _LotR_ fan and doesn't even know who Tom Bombadil is?"

"I think you are the only person in this whole room who knows who this Tom Bombardment is," Shawn commented.

Gus stared at Shawn, horrified. "You're dead to me. All of you."

" _Anyway,_ " Vick interrupted, "Mr. Isaacs is currently in critical condition at San Francisco General."

"He was a good man," Gus immediately changed tunes at word of the man's fate.

"You just said he was a moron," Shawn pointed out.

"A person can be a moron _and_ a good man, Shawn," Gus pointed out. "I mean, look at _you!_ "

Shawn's mouth flew open, but Chief Vick beat him to the punch. "That's it," she declared. "Mr. Spencer. Mr. Guster. I understand that humor is your 'coping mechanism' and your way to 'distance yourself and cope with the darkness in the world,' but so help me, if you do not shut your mouths and let me continue this briefing, I _will_ kick you out of this office, and off this case. Which I really do not want to do, because I need every person I can get on this, but I will if I'm going to have consultants who are going to refuse to take this matter sensitively. Am I clear?"

"'Coping mechanism?'" Shawn parroted. "Where did you get that idea?"

"It was from the official profile conducted by your mother after the last Yin/Yang incident," Vick answered, eliciting a small groan from Shawn. "Now, are you going to let me finish, or am I going to have to reduce my workforce on this and make this whole ordeal harder on _everyone_ involved?"

Effectively put into place, Shawn and Gus quieted down while the chief finally – _blessedly_ – continued the briefing into a silence void of obscure references, bickering, and name-calling. According to the chief, Carter Isaacs had been recording a "Let's Play" episode of Bethesda Game's hit title _Skyrim_ when a fire started somewhere in the house. It spread like a starving virus, eating everything in its path, and within ten minutes, the whole house, from the attic to the basement Isaacs used as a recording studio, was engulfed.

Isaacs had abandoned his station at his computer and must have wrapped himself in a blanket to better shield himself from the raging fire as he made his escape up the crumbling basement stairs and out the kitchen door. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they found the young man unconscious in the front yard, wrapped in a flaming blanket. They'd managed to douse the flames and get some oxygen into him before rushing him to the hospital, but he'd been in a coma for over a week now with no signs of waking, and they were unsure if he ever would.

"But if it was just a fire, why does the police station need to investigate?" Gus asked, brow wrinkled. "Do they suspect arson?"

"That's just it," Lassiter spoke up. "They _didn't._ At least until this video was uploaded onto Magmacarter's YouTube page three days later." He waited as his fellow chief changed the slide once more, revealing an embedded YouTube video entitled 'ALDUIN ATTACKS: FIRE IN THE HOLE|Skyrim #54.' The uploader name was 'Magmacarter.'"

Juliet stepped forward. "When we had our techs trace the IP address used to access the YouTube account, it led us nowhere but straight back to Mr. Isaacs's."

"But it couldn't have been uploaded by him. He was in a coma," Gus puzzled.

"Could he have somehow put the video on a timer so that it would upload on its own days later?" Shawn wondered. Everyone stared at him. "What? I had a YouTube channel a few years ago. I was 'PineapplePsychicGuy98.' I had fifteen whole followers."

"There were 97 other PineapplePsychicGuys before you?" Juliet asked, delicate eyebrow raised.

Shawn shrugged. "They were all fakes, though, unlike me."

An awkward silence. Then – "Actually, Spencer, we did look into it," Lassiter admitted. "It's a good thought, but apparently the video was just in the recording stages."

"It still had to be spliced and edited in post," Juliet added. "It wasn't anywhere ready to be uploaded, and it hadn't been linked in any way to YouTube at the time of the fire. It couldn't have been Mr. Isaacs."

"So we think that someone had it out for the guy and what? Set his house on fire, and then uploaded the video he'd been making before the fire for the world to see? How does that make sense?" Shawn asked.

"I think it will help if you actually watch the video," Chief Vick said. "I warn you… it's odd."

She pressed play.

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 **A/N: *Shadow of Mordor is a video game released for the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 in 2014. It's based off of Lord of the Rings, and it's an epic, largely free-world game in which you play as a man who has been killed and is trying to regain his soul and take down the armies of Sauron from the inside after his family is killed in front of him. It's intense, and gory, much like the LotR movies, but it's a beautiful game that has so much lore from Tolkien's world that it's considered canon itself in many circles.**

 ***Skyrim is my favorite game ever, released by Bethesda Games in 2011, the fifth game in the Elder Scrolls series. It's a free-world fantasy game where you make your own character and go on endless quests throughout the map, with the main questline being that you're the Dragonborn, a person who can absorb the souls of dragons to become infinitely powerful, and who is meant to stop Alduin, the big bad of the dragons who has returned to destroy Skyrim. It's epic.**

 **Also, I made up the usernames in this chapter. If there is actually someone out there on YouTube by the name "Magmacarter" or "PineapplePsychicGuy98," this is not referring to them and is no way associated with them. Just a little disclaimer. :)**

 **~Emachinescat ^. .^**


	4. The Unusual Suspects Get Their Game On

_Disclaimer: I don't own_ Psych.

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 **A/N: Wow... this chapter ended up over 2K words. But I think now that I've got the introduction/briefing/basic info for the case bit out of the way, I'll be able to break up the rest of the story into smaller, more suspenseful pieces.**

 **I don't own Psych, nor do I own Skyrim or Five Nights at Freddy's. Nor do I own Candy Crush.**

 **Also, the first gamer, Magmacarter, is inspired by one of my favorite YouTubers, Jacksepticeye. He's just a fun, green-haired Irish guy who likes to laugh, make others laugh, and have a good time. The second gamer is not based off of any YouTuber I've seen. He's just a generally unpleasant original character I made up.**

 **Shawn wouldn't keep his mouth shut this chapter either, but I finally was able to get through all the info I needed to get through despite his rude interruptions.**

 **Finally, the "videos" are in present tense and italics to set them apart from the rest of the story. For more information on any of the games mentioned, check the end notes. If you're interested in more information than is provided, feel free to message me!**

 **Please let me know your thoughts!**

 **Oh, and there is more language in this chapter than usual. I kept it PG (I never use stronger language in a fic than is used in the show), so it's really toned down from what real Let's Play videos on YouTube are like. To give you an idea, the f-bomb and all its many variations is regular vocabulary in most YouTuber's videos. Like I said, toned down - but still more than most of the stuff I write.**

* * *

 **Five Nights at Spencer's**

 **Chapter Two: The Unusual Suspects Get Their Game On**

 _"Up and at'em, Internet!" crows the skinny young man, light blue eyes sparkling with mischief and neon purple hair flopping against his forehead as he lurches forward to fist bump the screen. "My name is Magmacarter, and welcome back to Skyrim! Today, we're going to be continuing on with the main questline, because a ton of you guys have commented letting me know that you're getting tired of the Thieves' Guild and Dark Brotherhood quests. Don't worry, though – there's still tons of DLC to go through, but I want to get a bit more done in Skyrim before we head to Solsteim."_

Shawn leaned over to Gus and muttered, "What language is this guy speaking? What's with the random letter combinations? Is it a secret code? "

Gus hissed back, "It's gamer language, Shawn. You wouldn't understand."

"And you do?"

" _DLC_ means downloadable content, Shawn."

"Don't make up synonyms, Gus."

"It's acronym, and it's a real term. You're just not in on how the kids play video games today."

"Shhh!" hissed three irritable voices, effectively silencing the whispered exchange before the important bits started.

 _The game takes up almost the whole video screen, with Magmacarter's video feed nestled in the upper left-hand corner. On the screen, the character – a heavily-armored, helmet-wearing, double-handed axe wielding creature – runs up uneven terrain. A shriek rents the silence in the scraggly, mountainous area, and the crosshairs at the center of the screen slide up to lock on a great, scaly beast soaring high above in the slightly overcast sky. The gamer curses colorfully. "Another dragon already? Damn, you can't go anywhere without running into these scaly bastards." The axe is switched out with a bow and arrow. Magmacarter curses again. "Almost out of ebony arrows and the Dwarven ones are crap in comparison…"_

Shawn scoffed. "Is this guy for real?"

"It's true," Gus proclaimed. "Maybe if their weapons had been made of ebony or dragon bone, they'd still be around and not reduced to rubble."

"How do you know this? I have literally never seen you play this game, and I'm with you a good… 94.5 percent of the time."

"You don't know me, Shawn."

"Yes, I do. I've known you since we were five, Gus."

"Semantics."

"No, it's really not."

"SHHHHH!"

 _"This is a great time to build up my enchanting skills! I'm going to enchant my bow to cause fire damage upon impact. Just a sec…" A few button clicks, and he aims the bow and arrow at the dragon high above. "Eat this, you freaking lizard!" The arrow soars almost out of sight, before impacting the dragon right as it breathes a great peal of fire right at the screen. Another creative string of curses, and the character leaps out of the way. He's about to take another shot at the creature when another sound – ten times louder than the dragon's cry – screams through the laptop's speakers._

 _Magmacarter jumps, yanks off his headphones,and spins his chair around at the fire alarm's wail. "What the—?" The gamer is already coughing as he stumbles to his feet, knocking his chair over in the process. He spares a single moment looking toward the screen, longingly, as if he is debating whether to try to save his Xbox or recording equipment. Then, shaking his head, coughing as smoke begins to build up in the room, he runs out of frame. There's rustling, more coughing, and Magmacarter reappears on screen, now wrapped in a heavy blanket. He disappears from the shot as flames begin to lick at the basement walls. Footsteps pound up an unseen set of stairs, wheezing, cries of pain… then…_

 _Then…_

 _The game screen cuts away, the view from the webcam now taking over the screen completely. For a few seconds, there is nothing but the sound of crackling flame and the sight of a recording studio being eaten alive by fire as somewhere above the fire alarm shrieked a warning to the empty house. Another sound permeates, one that has already made itself known earlier in the video. The sound of a guttural, feral shrieking – the roar of a giant, scaly, man-eating beast. Only, there's something different about this roar: It sounds wilder, and closer, and more real… And the game is no longer being displayed._

 _That's when it appears. The same dragon that had been circling in the game stalks onto the screen, fire pooling around its feet. While obviously rendered from the game, there is still something inherently terrifying about it as it growls, smoke curling from its nostrils, and speaks in a voice like the tremors of an earthquake._

 _"Death comes to all in the end; the Dragonborn has fallen."_

 _A burst of fire explodes somewhere behind the great, digitally misplaced lizard, and the screen goes black._

Shawn and Gus gaped at the screen, well aware of the implications of this video: Not only had someone tried to kill this guy, but whoever it was had taken the time and energy to edit and splice the video, superimpose the dragon from _Skyrim_ onto the screen, and deliver a very clear warning to… someone. Whoever did this went _way_ out of his or her way to, if not kill, then at least seriously scare the kid in the video. And to actually upload it on a website where thousands of people would watch it?

"Um… is that still online?" Gus asked when he finally found his voice. "Because we just watched a dude almost die on _YouTube_."

"It's been taken off," Juliet assured him, a frown puckering her eyebrows.

"And we've done as much damage control as we can," Chief Vick added. "When the video first aired, most of the commenters believed it was a joke by Magmacarter. We weren't able to keep this from the media for long, though. Some devoted fans have started a Kick Starter to help pay for medical bills, however."

"Why would you kick a man in a coma?" Shawn demanded indignantly. "That's just wrong."

"You kicked me when you thought I was in a sugar coma last week," Gus pointed out.

"Yeah, but it turned out you'd just taken Benadryl instead of Zyrtec, so it doesn't count."

"I only Benadryl because you switched out the medicines!"

"Gus, Zyrtec is white; Benadryl is pink. It should have been obvious."

"I don't make a habit of checking each and every pill I take, Shawn."

"Well, that's your problem."

"GUYS!" Both detectives turned to look at Juliet, who was, at this moment, the very epitome of exasperated. Both chiefs were mirroring her irritated posture and facial expression. "Can we _please_ get back to the man in a coma?" She gestured to the screen.

"I'm sorry, Jules; it's just, do you realize that this time last night I was playing Candy Crush on my phone? This sicko is targeting gamers; that guy could have been me."

Lassiter muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Too bad it wasn't," but Chief Vick had regained hold of the situation and was continuing the briefing before Shawn could process the SBPD chief's comment.

"As we said before, Mr. Isaacs is stable but critical. Obviously, we won't be able to get anything from him until – if – he wakes up."

Shawn, for once, didn't have a snide or silly comment. He was coming to a conclusion that there was even more going on here than they had revealed so far. After all, even if this Magmacarter attack was a case that involved someone generally beloved in the public eye, it didn't explain why Lassie was in San Francisco coordinating with Chief Vick. They might have once been colleagues, but unless Lassie had a personal investment or stake in this investigation, protocol and time constraints simply wouldn't allow him to work this far outside of his domain.

Mostly out of habit, Shawn put a finger to his head. "I'm sensing that there has been another attack, within the past day or two, and that this time a YouTuber in or around Santa Barbara was targeted."

Begrudgingly, Lassiter confirmed Shawn's theory. "Unlike the last time, when the video went up days after the attack, though, we had no prior warning." He switched slides, revealing a picture of a light-haired guy in his late twenties that looked more like a surfer dude than a professional video game player. "This is Darren Reese. He goes by the username 'SuperHaut' on YouTube and mostly plays those cheap and dinky horror games for cheap thrills."

"Cheap _and_ dinky? Lassie, I think you just turned into my dad."

Lassiter shot Shawn a dirty look as Juliet picked up where her former partner had left off. "Apparently, he is into some weird stuff – dark stuff. His fans tend to watch him because of the violent and brash persona he adopts while on camera. According to his girlfriend, the whole thing is an act, and he's actually a great guy, but… well, we've been 'binge watching' his most recent videos since last night, and he projects himself, to be blunt, as—"

"A grade-A a-hole," Lassiter supplied. "Even more so than you, Spencer, which is really saying something."

"Why thank you, Lassie."

"He glorifies the violence in the games, all but encourages his viewers to translate his views into real .life," Chief Vick picked up. "A very unsavory character."

Having picked up on the fact that they had not been referring to Darren Reese in the past tense, Shawn came to the conclusion that he had not been killed. The way they were talking and the fact that this guy had such a different persona and fan-base than the previous victim told Shawn that the act committed against this a-hole, as Lassie had so affectionately dubbed him, was different than the last. And, since this investigation had suddenly became more urgent, the only logical conclusion was that—

"SuperHaut's missing, isn't he?" Shawn shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I will not call some dude I don't even know hot. It's degrading, embarrassing, and I have a fiancée. Jules, you are the only SuperHaut in this room."

Despite her professional demeanor, Juliet smirked at the compliment.

Blanching at the unwanted display of flirtation between the two, Lassiter answered. "Last night, just before midnight, this video was uploaded to Mr. Reese's account." The slide changed, and he pressed play on yet another embedded video.

 _"Hey, asshats," greets the smug, jerky-looking guy on the screen. "I'm SuperHaut. It's also my name." He smirks._

"Lassie, you weren't kidding," Shawn ventured. "This guy _is_ an a-hole!"

Gus agreed. "You couldn't be that douche-y if you tried."

"Uh, thanks, Gus… I think."

 _"So,_ Five Nights a Freddy's. _This freaking game scared the crap out of all you losers last video. Let's just try Day 2 and see if any of you bed-wetters can handle the pressure of these creepy bastards." He starts the game, which, for the first five minutes, consists of switching back and forth between camera angles while keeping an eye out for animatronics that have shifted positions or are missing from their spots, and a violent, crass, and entirely unpleasant commentary kept up by the gamer. Just as he is checking the place called Pirate's Cove again for movement, static buzzes to life on screen._

 _SuperHaut pauses. "What the hell?"_

 _The screen cuts out entirely, static having overcome the video._

 _Then, from somewhere beyond the superimposed, creepy static rises a strangled yell, one part pain and four parts terrified. The static gives way to a black screen._

"What… was that?" Gus asked, eyes wide.

Lassiter held up a hand. "Wait for it."

Shawn whispered in Gus's ear, "That's _our_ line!"

And then all thoughts of intellectual and spoken copyright were driven out of their minds as the video flared back to life:

 _A disgusting, horrifying gurgling growl penetrates the speakers just as, from out of the pitch-blackness, leaps a horrifying effigy of some kind of giant, distorted woodland creature. A bear? Its teeth are bared, its robotic eyes swivel madly in its sockets, and it shivers and jerks as it lunges at the screen._

A harmony of girly shrieks rent the chief's office as the two consultants screamed at the jump scare. The other three in the room covered their respective ears until the shriek had faded into breathless whimpers.  
"What the _hell_ was that?" Gus gasped, clutching his chest.

"That," Chief Vick responded, equal parts irritated, disturbed, and sympathetic, "is Freddy Fazbear, and, unfortunately, he is our only lead and suspect in Darren Reese's disappearance."

* * *

 **A/N: GAMER'S GLOSSARY**

 ***Skyrim references:**

 **-The Thieves' Guild is a special group you can join and become the leader of in Skyrim if you wish. You get endless little jobs and quests - and a few bigger ones along the way - in which you get assigned something to steal from one of the citizens, something to pickpocket, or evidence to plant, etc. The Dark Brotherhood is similar, except it's an assassins' guild, and you report to a freaky possessed mummy thing that gives you your targets and specifications of how they're to be taken out. Neither one of these options is mandatory, but they do make gameplay a lot more interesting. In my game, I'm the leader of the Thieves' Guild, the Dark Brotherhood, the magic college at Winterhold, the secret society the Nightingales... and I feel like the most powerful being in the world lol!**

 **-Solsteim is a part of a downloadable content addition to Skyrim in which your character travels to the island of Solsteim and fights cultists, frost giant creatures, and a wide variety of exotic mythical creatures found nowhere except Skyrim. Unfortunately, the loading time when traveling between the mainland and Solsteim is longer than normal, so a lot of people try to get as much done as they can in Skyrim before going to Solsteim so they don't have to keep going back and forth.**

 **-The Dragonborn, like I said last time, is the main character of the game (one that the player actually gets to customize in its entirety, down to race, hair color, armor, clothes, size, face, body, etc.). The Dragonborn has the ability to absorb dragon souls upon killing the creatures to become more and more powerful.**

 **-In Skyrim, the dwarven race (they're called the Dwemer) are extinct, but their underground fortresses have become places of intrigue for questers, historians, and archaeologists. They were master inventors, with all kinds of advanced technology of which most knowledge was lost with them, but the Dwemer armor and weapons, while better than Elven, Iron, Leather, and Falmer, is not superior to Ebony, Dragonbone, Daedric, or Stalhrim.**

 ***Five Nights at Freddy's references:**

 **-Freddy Fazbear is one of the possessed animatronics at Fazbear's Pizzeria in the game.**

 **-The premise of Five Nights at Freddy's is that the player has started working at this pizzeria similar to Chuck E. Cheese's, and he's a security guard who has to watch over the animatronics that tend to wander around at night. The player has to conserve power and not be caught by one of the animatronics, because their programming causes them to think that any person they see outside of a suit is a robotic skeleton without an outer suit, and so they will try to forcibly put the player into the suit, which is fatal because of all the gears and metal and electronics inside... Yikes!**

 **~Emachinescat ^. .^**


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